This light and fresh Broccoli Buckwheat Salad gets lots of flavour from chopped semi-dried tomatoes and fresh herbs stirred through it! Gluten free, dairy free and vegan friendly (feta optional), this satisfying salad is perfect for meal prep and packing in your lunch box.
Meal-prepping is in full swing at my house again after the holiday break. Now that I’m juggling work, study and the blog, being organised about my food is a key part of my weekly routine! I love to eat good food and I love to eat it often – I do not like to skip meals or rely on packaged snack foods to get by. Food has got to be fresh, colourful and full of flavour – and I find the easiest way to achieve this is by spending a chunk of time batch-cooking.
So! I’ve been making this Broccoli Buckwheat Salad with Semi-Dried Tomatoes, which keeps really well in the fridge and makes a wonderful addition to my lunch box (or a speedy dinner). With a gluten free wholegrain base, this beauty combines loads of greens with the rich flavour of semi-dried tomatoes. All topped off with a squeeze of lemon and extra virgin olive oil, which are probably my two top salad dressing ingredients!
Before I first made this salad a few weeks back, I hadn’t eaten semi-dried tomatoes in forever. SO silly of me – they are so damn delicious! Just a few little pieces are all you need to bump up the tastiness of a meal with no effort at all. Besides this salad, I have been loving them chopped up and stirred through scrambled eggs. DIVINE. (They would also be a great addition to this Pesto Vegetable Frittata if you feel like meal-prepping some more food!)
Now, before you grab this broccoli buckwheat salad recipe let’s talk about protein for a second. While this salad gets some protein from the buckwheat, seeds and the optional feta, I often like to pair this salad with some more. If you’re packing it for lunch it works well with canned tuna or salmon. If you have more time, try it with grilled chicken, salmon or poached eggs. For a plant based option, add half a cup of lentils or chickpeas!
Broccoli Buckwheat Salad with Semi-Dried Tomatoes
Ingredients
- 3/4 cup buckwheat groats (measured uncooked)
- 1 small head broccoli
- 1 small cucumber
- 3/4 cup semi-dried tomatoes
- 1 handful fresh mint
- 1 handful fresh parsley
- 1/4 cup sunflower seeds
- 2-3 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
- 1/2 lemon
- salt and pepper to season
- 100 grams feta cheese - OPTIONAL, see notes
Instructions
- Buckwheat. Cook the buckwheat either according to the package instructions, or using the boil method: basically, pop the buckwheat in a saucepan of boiling water like you would pasta, and cook on a rolling boil for 12 minutes. Drain thoroughly, then spread out on a tray or large plate to cool down. Set aside.
- Broccoli. Chop the broccoli into small florets. Steam for 2-3 minutes or until just tender. Allow to cool.
- Other Salad Ingredients. Chop the semi-dried tomatoes into small pieces. Cut the cucumber into small dice. Remove the rough stalks from the parsley and mint, then shred/chop the leaves into smaller pieces.
- Assemble Salad. Combine the cooled buckwheat and broccoli together with the semi-dried tomatoes, cucumber, herbs and sunflower seeds. Squeeze over the juice of the half lemon, and drizzle over a few tablespoons of olive oil. Season with salt and pepper. Toss to combine everything.
- Serve the salad with feta crumbled over the top if desired. Enjoy!
Notes
Beautiful Salad! I enjoy the array of veggies selected. Just wondering, are you using a Curley leaf or Italian parsley?
I am using continental i.e. Italian parsley, thanks!
This is gorgeous and would be so pretty for a brunch party! And it would be easy to make it paleo or whole30 with cauliflower rice instead of buckwheat.
Oh yum I didn’t even think to try it with cauli rice! Yum that’s a great idea! 🙂
You got my at buckwheat! I love it so much. Making this this lunch! Thank you
Ah yay glad to hear you’re a buckwheat fan too! It’s a staple in our house!
This looks so refreshing, and it’s so seasonal and beautiful too! I love all of the textures you’ve pulled together here. What a lovely option for a packed lunch.
Thank you Danielle! The textures in this salad are really good, I love buckwheat groats so much for that. 🙂
Such a beautiful salad! I love the idea of buckwheat in this, I definitely need to eat more!
Thanks so much Carrie! I can always recommend more buckwheat 🙂
This is completely lovely. I’ve been longing for semi-dried tomatoes lately. This must be why, ha! Pinned to my beautiful salads board!
Ah glad I’m not the only one with a semi-dried tomato craving! They can just complete a meal, they have so much flavour. Thank you so much, Megan!
I feel healthier just looking at this salad! No one could ever complain that they were hungry after eating that!
Aw thanks Lindsey! I always feel a little healthier when I look at something colourful like this too 😛
The only way I have ever used buckwheat groats is to grind them into a flour for baking…so this really interests me! And all the other beautiful ingredients, yum!!
You should definitely trying cooking the whole groats Tessa! I love them and really enjoy the texture. So nutritious and a great alternative to rice 🙂
I love that this keeps in the fridge for fast meals! Cool! We use buckwheat for porridge once a week, and I rarely remember to use it for other meals! Thanks!
Anything that can keep in the fridge for a few days is always a winner in my house 🙂 Ooh and now you have reminded me to make some buckwheat porridge, too!
This salad is everything!!! And I love all of that crumbly feta on there. So yummy and beautiful.
🙂 Thank you Emily! Yes, I just had to finish this off with a little feta, it was crying out for it!
What a gorgeous salad! I’ve never cooked buckwheat groat before. Looks delicious.
Thanks so much Jean! I really love buckwheat and use it often, as it’s a seed sometimes people don’t mind a little bit of it even if they’re maintaining a “grain free” diet.
Monique, I just LOVE everything in this salad! I can taste it through the screen. I love that the broccoli is lightly steamed (haha, raw broccoli salad bothers me), and the fresh herbs and sunflower seeds and lemon and feta will go together so nicely. Must try this and thank you for sharing!
Oh Yang, thank you so much for such kind words! Haha, raw broccoli salad bothers me too! I find that broccoli is just too “hard” for me when raw; I don’t like the texture or flavour as much and also I find it difficult on my digestion. Kale is fine raw, but not broccoli!
What a stunning salad!
Thank you so much Linda!
This looks so good! I need to get some buckwheat 🙂
Thank you! 🙂 Yes, I really encourage you to try buckwheat groats! I much prefer it to quinoa and it’s so versatile for sweet or savoury dishes.